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My letter about HJR-3

I am writing as a very concerned citizen of Indiana. I am asking that you vote NO on HJR-3 today. I have listened to the live stream of all of the testimony and I feel that you have heard many, many compelling arguments on why this bill is harmful to our great state.

This bill will make Indiana a less welcoming place for all Hoosiers. It will impact our future economic growth and be a driving factor on whether or not many smart and talented people choose to stay or decide to make Indiana their home.

I also find it quite ironic and sad that the IEDC is currently spending millions in advertising in New York City, promoting Indiana as A State That Works…We are spending millions to promote our state as a welcoming place for global corporations…and at the exact time, the legislature is trying to push through a bigoted, unwelcoming and archaic amendment…

As we have seen in other states, amendments like this have just been overturned after lengthy and expensive court battles. It makes me sick to think that we would waste time and millions of dollars…when you have the opportunity to just VOTE NO. Nothing changes – gay couples still can’t get married…but you can then use your time and energy and money fixing real problems for Hoosiers – education, unemployment, crime.

In this email, I am trying to appeal directly to the driving economic factors behind this amendment. I feel that if this passes, it will take progress backwards. For a state that proudly touts HOOSIER HOSPITALITY…and lands itself boldly in the center of national and global media for hosting world-class events…How is it good business for us to pass this amendment that explicitly tells a good percentage of our own population that their way of life isn’t welcome here? How will that play out in a national spotlight?

Personally…

I was born in Indiana and have lived in this great state for 35 years…I am nostalgic of and believe solidly in my roots (laid in the cornfields of Versailles, IN)…I feel lucky to live in Indy and have a fiercely bold love for what this city is doing…and where it is going. And then something like HJR-3 rears its ugly head…and I feel infuriated and ashamed of my state and its leaders. They can’t possibly believe that this is the future we should choose… How is it that my city and state would consider voting into law an anti-freedom, anti-human rights, anti-love amendment that would place our state on the wrong side of history?

Life can be hard – when you find someone you love who can go through it with you, why should anyone be able to tell you that you can’t marry that person?